44036_Brycheiniog_2005:44036_Brycheiniog_2005 27/4/16 15:44 Page 1 BRYCHEINIOG VOLUME XXXVII 2005 Edited by E. G. PARRY Published by THE BRECKNOCK SOCIETY and MUSEUM FRIENDS 44036_Brycheiniog_2005:44036_Brycheiniog_2005 27/4/16 15:44 Page 2 THE BRECKNOCK SOCIETY and MUSEUM FRIENDS CYMDEITHAS BRYCHEINIOG a CHYFEILLION YR AMGUEDDFA OFFICERS President Sr Bonaventure Kelleher Chairman Mr K. Jones Honorary Secretary Miss H. Gichard Membership Secretary Mrs S. Fawcett-Gandy Honorary Treasurer Mr A. J. Bell Honorary Auditor Mr C. Jones Honorary Editor Canon B. Jones Honorary Assistant Editor Mr P. Jenkins Curator of Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery Mr D. C. Moore Back numbers of Brycheiniog can be obtained from the Assistant Editor, 9 Camden Crescent, Brecon LD3 7BY Articles and books for review should be sent to the Editor, Yr Efail, Aberhafesp, Newtown, Powys SY16 3HN © The copyright of material published in Brycheiniog is vested in the Brecknock Society & Museum Friends. 44036_Brycheiniog_2005:44036_Brycheiniog_2005 27/4/16 15:44 Page 3 CONTENTS Officers of the Society 2 Notes on Contributors 4 Editorial 5 Olive Bacon: an appreciation 7 Reports: Powys Archives Office Catherine Richards 9 The Royal Regiment of Wales Museum, Brecon Alison Hembrow 15 The Roland Mathias Prize Glyn Mathias 19 John Penry: the Early Brecknockshire Puritan Firebrand J. Gwynfor Jones 23 The Personal Life and Private Trade of Captain John Lloyd Ken Jones 45 The Crisis of Anglicanism in Brecon Edward Parry 81 The Soldiers’ Cottage Homes in Brecon Martin Everett 99 Index 103 44036_Brycheiniog_2005:44036_Brycheiniog_2005 27/4/16 15:44 Page 4 NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS Glyn Mathias was brought up in Pembrokeshire and had a distinguished career in television becoming Political Editor of ITN and BBC Wales; he is currently Electoral Commissioner for Wales. J. Gwynfor Jones retired recently as Professor of Welsh History at the University of Cardiff. His published works, which focus on the early modern history of Wales, include The Welsh Gentry 1536–1640: Images of Status, Honour and Authority (1995) and Aspects of Religious Life in Wales c. 1536–1660 (2003). Before retirement and his involvement with the Brecknock Society Ken Jones had lectured on social history and business at the universities of Cardiff, London and Berkeley, California. Edward Parry recently contributed brief historical essays to Jamie Owen’s latest book, Welsh Journeys; at present the local history of Montgomeryshire is taking up an increasing amount of his time. Martin Everett is the Curator of the Royal Regiment of Wales Museum in Brecon; his researches into regimental history have taken him to South Africa, India, Gallipoli and the European battlefields of the two World Wars. 44036_Brycheiniog_2005:44036_Brycheiniog_2005 27/4/16 15:44 Page 5 EDITORIAL The presentation of the first Roland Mathias prize in March 2005 attracted considerable attention in Brecon and further afield and it seemed appropriate that the journal of the society which organised the occasion should include a report on this prestigious event; it is particularly fitting that this is written by the Roland’s son Glyn who is himself a distinguished Breconian. Once again I am grateful to the Sir John Lloyd Memorial lecturer – this year Professor J. Gwynfor Jones – for agreeing to provide the text of his talk for publication in the journal. 2005 was for most people notable for the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot but few are aware of the threat posed to the Established Church at the time from extreme Puritans of whom John Penry of Cefnbrith was one of the most notorious. Penry would have approved of much in Welsh noncomformity which offered a serious challenge to the Anglican church in the nineteenth century. The energetic response of the church in Brecon is examined in an article by the editor. Ken Jones’s account of John Lloyd’s career takes him into the nineteenth century and shows vividly how the new material found recently at Abercynrig adds considerably to our knowledge of Lloyd and the lucrative Indian trade which he pursued. The houses at Dorlangoch which Martin Everett describes will be familiar to many people but they may not realise that they are another link in Brecon’s long association with the regular army and its imperial campaigns. The article in last year’s journal on the archaeological dig in Brecon was supported by a grant of £500 from the Council for British Archaeology; Powys County Council and Brecon Town Council made grants towards the cost of publishing the current Brycheiniog. Without such assistance publication would be difficult and the contributions from these bodies are gratefully acknowledged. 44036_Brycheiniog_2005:44036_Brycheiniog_2005 27/4/16 15:44 Page 6 44036_Brycheiniog_2005:44036_Brycheiniog_2005 27/4/16 15:44 Page 7 OLIVE LOUISE BACON (1911–2005) Olive Bacon, who died recently, was an esteemed member of the Brecknock Society and Museum Friends who brought a wealth of experience to her support of the Society’s activities. She was born and educated in London, where her family had lived for several generations; her grandfather had fought in the Peninsular War. Secretarial studies at Lycée Français prepared her for entry to the publishing world at Simpkin and Marshall in Pater Noster Square, where she developed her proof-reading skills. She loved the book-trade, but her career was cut short by the bombs which destroyed the entire square. Drafted into hospital organization, she found a deep interest there, and trained as a Hospital Administrator. In this position she played a guiding role with the Daughters of Charity in the developments which changed what had been a Victorian ‘Charity Home for Crippled Boys’ into St Vincent’s, Pinner, a leading specialist orthopaedic hospital. A keen photographer who travelled widely, Olive’s interests in Brecon began with a holiday friendship, leading ultimately to her retirement here in 1980. She became a member of the Brecknock Society and Museum Friends, combining this with an interest in the W.E.A., becoming Local Secretary and Tutor. This led to the presentation of an exhibition in the Museum foyer, Brecon People from the Past, including local wills and inventories. As a Society member she was also available to local schools as a source of the Oral History of war-time London. She worked for many years as a volunteer in the Museum Library, and was a generous donor of artefacts. Brecon Cathedral was the centre of her spiritual life and practice; it also became a subject of serious research and analysis. It was characteristic that her duty as a Welcomer there should lead to the publication of a carefully-researched article: Brecon Cathedral Floor-Stones! She provided much archive material, including original work about masons’ marks there, printed in Brycheiniog volumes XXV and XXVII. To all this she brought her considerable intellectual powers, an enquiring mind, an unusually retentive memory with fast, accurate recall. To the end, she remained keenly interested in the Society, and the future of the Museum. Olive was President of Brecknock Society and Museum Friends during the period 1993–98, which meant a great deal to her. Sr Bonaveture Kelleher 44036_Brycheiniog_2005:44036_Brycheiniog_2005 27/4/16 15:44 Page 8 44036_Brycheiniog_2005:44036_Brycheiniog_2005 27/4/16 15:44 Page 9 POWYS COUNTY ARCHIVES 2005 has proved to be year full of activity for Powys Archives. Visitor numbers have reached around 1,200, whilst staff have responded to well over 1000 enquiries by email and letter. In the past year we have significantly increased outreach activities across the county. For instance, regular press releases keep new and old users informed about events and new accessions received at the Archives. In addition several news stories about Powys Archives have appeared on BBC Online, and staff have been interviewed on Radio Maldwyn, as well as appearing twice on the HTV evening news to talk about interesting and exciting new deposits placed with the Archives. At the end of 2004 Powys Archives undertook its visitor survey. This has become an annual event in the Archives calendar. Conclusions and comments resulting from the survey are essential as we try and improve and develop the service. Some of the findings for 2004 are as follows: 88% of our visitors come to undertake research for personal interest such as family or house history; 26% are new users and intend to return; 52% of those who come to Powys Archives travel from within Powys. In 2003 this figure was only 29% – evidence that our increased out-reach activities across the county are working; 58% of our visitors are over 60 years of age. Younger people, 44 years and under, still do not use Powys Archives regularly; 82% of those surveyed think staff are friendly, 85% helpful and 72% knowledgeable. Additional comments were also invited and the overwhelming majority of these concentrated on lack of space for researchers, the over-crowded searchroom and lack of facilities for visitors. Following grant funding from CyMAL (the Welsh Assembly advisory body for Museums, Archives and Libraries) to purchase display boards, Archives staff put together a small exhibition which toured around selected libraries in Powys between November 2004 and April 2005. “Literary Associations with Powys” was its theme, using documentary evidence from the Archives. It featured authors and poets with associations with the three old counties of Breconshire, Radnorshire and Montgomeryshire. The images used from Powys Archives included a letter from J.M. Barrie, creator of Peter Pan, who corresponded with the Lewis family of Milford Hall in Newtown; a title deed signed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, who was party to a conveyance in Radnorshire; and an entry relating to the poet T. Harri Jones (the “poor man’s Dylan Thomas”) in the Llanafan school admission register.